Coco Austin on breastfeeding her 5-year-old: ‘Why take it away from her?’

Lots of moms continue breastfeeding their kids as they grow from babies to toddlers, and some continue doing it for longer than that. Coco Austin, wife of Ice-T and mom to 5-year-old Chanel, is one of those moms—and she’s totally unapologetic about it.

In a new interview with Us Weekly, Austin says she still nurses Chanel in small spurts throughout the day and doesn’t play on stopping anytime soon.

“Chanel still likes my boob. She’s five years old,” Austin said. “A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, you’re not getting the nutrition after 2 years old. Why do it?’ And I’m like, My child’s eating steak and hamburgers. She just likes a little snack every now and then and more of the bonding between the mother. Why take that away from her?”

She says extended breastfeeding is more of a nighttime comfort for little Chanel—as it is for many babies and toddlers, too. I know I nursed both of my own babies to sleep every night until they self-weaned.

“She loves on it and it’s not like she’s getting milk from it,” Coco said, “but she’s getting her little snack and it’s kind of soothing her to sleep.”

Coco also says that she’ll stop breastfeeding on her daughter’s timeline—when she’s ready to be done, then they’ll be done. “I don’t want to deprive her of something she wants,” she said, “just because society says you need to stop after two.”

Chanel herself even spoke up about her love for breastfeeding during the interview, saying, “You know what? The boo boo makes me sleep.”

Can’t argue with that! Whatever works for you and your little one is all that ultimately matters.